


Meeting of Ruby Eyes

by ZimsMostLoyalServant



Series: Ruby Pair [1]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: BAMF Minimoose, Canon - Comics & Cartoon Combination, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Invader Zim comic series, Post-Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Randomness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22018021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZimsMostLoyalServant/pseuds/ZimsMostLoyalServant
Summary: While on a visit to Cyberflox, Zim runs into a familiar face, and the two are quickly dragged into an adventure.
Relationships: Zim & Invader Tenn (Invader Zim)
Series: Ruby Pair [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1584802
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Meeting of Ruby Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, everybody, to the start of a little side project I've been planning for a while now. This won't be an epic series with a mapped-out plot like New Adventures, but rather an open-ended collection of connected oneshots that I'll be publishing independently of each other. Also, I won't be working on this as regularly as New Adventures, just to let you all know that now.
> 
> Now, for a little context for how this idea came about. Some time ago, I was on FFN re-reading the long dormant (probably dead at this point) fic "Rise of the Smallest" by Fanatic Drone N, which as part of its premise involves a budding romance between Zim and Tenn, which I was interested in because that's not a ship you see often. Then I got curious as to how rare a ship it actually was, and found that there's only a handful of stories where the two of them even interact personally, and none of those actually pair them up. So, I got to thinking on it, and the idea for this series came to me. Oh, and people curious on the name of both this story and the series as a whole? It's because of Zim and Tenn both having ruby-colored eyes; not very clever, I know, since so many Irkens do, but it's all I could think of.
> 
> And, just for another bit of FYI, the romance will be a slow-burn. I learned my lesson from prior attempts about not just rushing into writing romance; I need to build it up first. So don't expect Zim and Tenn to be making out by the end of this first entry.
> 
> Okay, that's enough rambling for now. Read on!

Zim's Voot Cruiser zoomed through the void of space. In the cockpit, Zim leaned back in his chair, allowing the autopilot to handle the ship's course, while he drifted in his thoughts, oblivious to everything around him. Not even GIR sitting next to him, singing nonsensically (not the Doom Song though, thank Irk), nor Minimoose floating randomly around the enclosed space, was enough to snap him out of where his mind was wandering.

It had been some time since the Tallest had revealed to him that his mission to Earth was fake, just a means of getting rid of him. And while he'd been initially shocked and dismayed at the news, he'd since brushed it off — after all, he was Zim. Conquest and destruction ran through his mighty Irken veins! If he wasn't officially sanctioned to take over Earth, fine, he'd just do it by himself. That would prove his worth to the Tallest, he was sure of it.

" _Besides, what's my alternative, rebel against the Empire?_ " Zim mentally snorted, " _Or maybe I could befriend the Dib-Monkey and live like a normal human pig-smelly. Or maybe just mope around all day and whine about what went wrong with my life, like one of those… emus? Elmos? Eskimos? Whatever that human word is._ "

Realizing he was getting off track, Zim shook his head and turned back to the topic at hand. The point was, he was determined to keep on doing what he'd been doing, but he now had the problem of having many of his usual supply lines cut off. That meant that if he was going to keep himself at full operating capacity, he had to make some compromises he'd otherwise be uncomfortable with. Hence this particular trip, which he wouldn't have made under normal circumstances.

"Location proximity alert," the console suddenly announced, snapping Zim out of his thoughts.

"Speak of the Shloobian Jelly Beast," he muttered, deactivating the autopilot as he took in the sight of his destination — Cyberflox, the galaxy's biggest and most dangerous black market planet. It looked just like Zim remembered from his last trip, only with the orbital billboards that once advertised Fitzoo-Menga as the planet's new owner now instead read "Under _New_ New Management".

Frankly, Zim hadn't wanted to come back to anywhere that reminded him of the whole Virooz situation. But with his access to Callnowia officially cut off, he needed someplace to restock his weapons and other supplies. And while there were other planets he could go to, this was the one that could meet his demands in both the bulk that he required and at a fast enough pace that he was comfortable with. So, he'd just have to swallow his discomfort and deal with it.

Entering the atmosphere, Zim flew towards the Empty-Warehouse-For-Rent district of the planet, an area he hadn't been aware of last time. That probably would have been more helpful as a hideout than finding one with an owner he could overpower and lock in a box… huh, actually, come to think of it, had he ever let that guy out? Meh, it didn't matter.

Landing next to a directory station, Zim quickly went through the tedious forms needed to rent a warehouse, then took the Voot over to it and parked inside. Activating the ship's security systems, he got out of the ship and then turned to face his robots as they likewise disembarked, Minimoose floating out and GIR flopping face first onto the floor.

"Alright, listen up," Zim announced, "I'm going to go meet with the vendors, and have them send everything here, where you'll pack it into the ship. That should limit the amount of time we need to spend here; Zim doesn't want to be here any longer than is necessary. Understood?"

"Yes, my master!" GIR saluted, eyes red, as Minimoose squeaked in affirmation. GIR's eyes then changed back to blue, as he exclaimed, "You's gonna get me some taquitos?"

"No, GIR," Zim replied with a long-suffering sigh, "I told you already, there are no taquitos here! I'm here for weapons, fuel, actual Irken food…"

"Whaaaa!" GIR cried, falling onto the ground and repeatedly slamming his fists on it. Zim's eye twitched at the tantrum, and after a few minutes he threw his arms up in defeat.

"Fine! If we have time afterwards, we'll stop off someplace and get you some! Just shut up!"

"Okay!" GIR said, jumping back to his feet and then skipping off cheerfully. Zim sighed again as he watched him run off, then turned to Minimoose.

"Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't break anything that's delivered," he ordered.

"Nyah!" Minimoose squeaked another acknowledgement, before floating after GIR.

Shaking off his annoyance, Zim then turned on his heel and marched out of the warehouse.

XXXXXXX

Some time later, Zim was at a Bombs, Firearms, & Sofas Emporium, filling out the last of the paperwork for his purchase of weapons (and a comfy new couch; his old one was filthy). Watching the employees cart up his purchases and carry them off towards the warehouse, Zim nodded at a job well done, when the digestive portion of his squeedlyspooch rumbled. Frowning, Zim checked the time on his watch.

"Hmph, that did take a bit longer than I expected," he muttered, "And it'll be longer still for them to pack everything onto the ship. I suppose I have time to stop to get something to eat. Is that blood-smoothie place still around here somewhere?"

Zim then spent the next few minutes looking for someplace to eat, eventually finding a somewhat seedy-looking hole in the wall bar. Of course, since this was Cyberflox, being only _somewhat_ seedy-looking meant it was probably the safest option. So, that in mind, Zim marched in, finding himself in a dark, dirty room, aliens of many species seated at a number of dingy tables or at the bar. Standing behind that bar was a large purple alien with fours arms and six eyes, cleaning a number of glasses with rags, something he didn't pause in even as he noticed Zim walking up to the bar.

"Whaddya want?" the bartender asked gruffly.

"Zim demands nachos, and Vortian firewhiskey," Zim replied, not letting the much larger alien intimidate him.

"Fine. Go on and sit down, we'll bring it to ya," the bartender said, tapping the order onto a console and waving Zim off. The Irken sniffed in annoyance at being dismissed so easily, but stomped over to the nearest table and sat down.

As he waited for his order to arrive, Zim tapped his fingers against the table's surface, once again letting his thoughts drift. And despite himself, that led him back to thinking once again about his current status.

" _It's a total injustice,_ " he mused darkly, " _So what if I caused a bunch of blackouts, or blew up all those loser Invaders, or accidentally killed Miyuki and Spork, or that whole thing with the Florpus, or… whatever. The point is, I am Zim! I am the greatest Irken who ever lived! That should excuse any little mistakes I've made over the years. Bah, well, I'll show them! I'll conquer Earth on my own, without the Armada's aid. And then the Tallest will see they were wrong about me, and will get down on their knees to apologize for casting me aside! And then-_ "

"Zim?" a voice suddenly spoke up to the side, snapping him out of his contemplation. Blinking, he turned to face its source, and was surprised to see a female Irken standing next to the table, holding a tray containing his order. She was a little taller than him, with eyes the same shade of ruby red as his own, and wearing an Elite's uniform with a waitress apron and skirt over it.

More to the point, and to Zim's further surprise, he realized he recognized her.

"Tenn?" he exclaimed, staring in shock, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I work here," she replied, her own surprise at seeing him evident.

"You're invading Cyberflox? I thought you were assigned to Meekrob?" Zim asked, squinting an eye in confusion.

"No, I mean I _work_ here," Tenn said, frowning as she shifted from surprise to annoyance, gesturing around the bar, specifically to other waitresses wearing the same outfit as hers, to hammer in her point.

"You're using this place to get monies to fuel your conquest of Meekrob?"

"What?" Tenn blinked at Zim's comment, "Did you not hear what I just said? I work here. As in, I'm an employee of this bar."

"…You conquered Meekrob when no one was looking and now you're getting started on this planet for fun?"

"No! Arrgh!" Tenn growled, pinching the space between her eyes for a moment before turning to look at the bartender, "Marluck! I'm taking my break."

"Fine," the bartender replied, not even bothering to look up from the glasses he was still cleaning, though he did toss one in her direction. She caught it with one hand, even as the other slammed the tray containing Zim's order onto his table. Then she popped open the bottle of firewhiskey and poured herself a shot, before filling Zim's glass as well and sliding it over to him.

Zim watched as Tenn downed her shot and poured herself another one, before deciding to drink his own. Sipping it slowly, he gave Tenn an appraising look. They hadn't been particularly close back in the Academy, as Skoodge had been the only one Zim had deemed worthy of being his friend (that was his story, and he was sticking to it), but she had been Skoodge's friend, so they had at least interacted a bit more frequently than mere classmates. Therefore, he liked to think he knew her well enough to read her, and right now he was seeing signs of serious stress and frustration.

Not that he cared, of course. He was just curious as to how she got to be here, of all places.

"So, what is the deal with all this, really?" Zim asked, popping a nacho in his mouth, "How'd you get from Meekrob to here?"

"What happened is that due to some shipping mixup, I got a delivery of a bunch of malfunctioning SIR Units," Tenn said, shivering at the memory, "You ever see what kind of damage an insane SIR Unit can do?"

"Every day," Zim replied with a shrug, "I just find something to distract him with, and that usually calms him down."

"Well, I didn't exactly have time to work that out as an option," Tenn commented dryly, as she helped herself to some of Zim's nachos, "Besides which, it wasn't just one of the damn things, it was over a dozen. All of them running around, blowing things up, setting stuff on fire, pulling out chainsaws, and… well, you get the point. My base didn't last an hour after that mess started up."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain how you became a waitress on Cyberflox," Zim said.

"I'm getting to that," Tenn snapped, taking another drink, "Anyway, my base and all my resources were destroyed, I was cut off from the Armada, and my presence on the planet was exposed to the Meekrob. So, I had to go into hiding, living in caves and surviving off what non-toxic wildlife I could hunt-"

"Zim didn't ask for your whole life story. Get to the point," Zim cut in, earning a glare from Tenn.

" _Anyway_ , I finally managed to scrape together a barely-functional ship and managed to get off of Meekrob and back to Irken space," she continued, "I wasn't exactly expecting a warm welcome, given that I'd failed my mission, but I thought that I'd at worst be disciplined, maybe demoted to regular soldier status. Instead, the Tallest and the Control Brains declared that I was now a stain on the Empire's honor, so they outright banished me! And they didn't even give me a chance to gather supplies before making me leave! This was the only planet I could reach before my fuel ran out, and this bar was the first place I could find that would hire me without any experience. So now I'm stuck working this stupid job, just to scrape together enough monies to survive, all because I'm being punished for something that wasn't even my fault!"

By this point, Tenn was fully ranting, and as she finished, she smacked a fist onto the tabletop for emphasis, before grabbing the bottle and chugging directly from it. Zim, meanwhile, was staring in shock at her intensity, but only for a moment before shrugging it off.

"Yeah, the Tallest can be pretty ungrateful jerks when they wanna be," he said, calmly sipping his own drink as Tenn stared at him like he'd just grown a second head.

"Since when do _you_ badmouth the Tallest?" she asked, sounding dumbfounded.

"Since I found out my so-called 'mission' was just an excuse to get rid of me," Zim replied, scowling, "Well, I bet they'll feel real stupid when I end up conquering Earth anyway."

"Wait, so you're still sticking to your mission even though you know it's fake?" Tenn asked, cocking her head to one side, "I mean, I guess that's not as weird as somehow _quitting_ your banishment, but still…"

"Well what else is Zim supposed to do? I'm not giving up, unlike some people," he responded haughtily, smirking at the offended look that crossed her face at that.

"I did not give up!" she snapped, "Did you not hear the part where the Tallest kicked me out of the Empire?"

"Yes, but that only happened because you ran away from Meekrob, instead of sticking it out and trying to overcome that setback you suffered," Zim scoffed.

"Setback? That was not a setback, it was a disaster!" Tenn said, "And it's not like it was because of some mistake on my part, it was those stupid SIRs! If I had gotten the Megadoomer the Tallest meant to send me instead of those things, I'd probably be leading an Organic Sweep of Meekrob right now!"

"Eh, I doubt it, that thing's overrated," Zim replied, as he finished off the nachos.

"How would you know?" Tenn asked with a scowl.

"Oh, I got one of them delivered to me once. Didn't work out so well," Zim explained with a shrug.

"…When was this?" Tenn asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I dunno, a year ago maybe? Why?" Zim said, confused as a look of shock appeared on Tenn's face, which quickly twisted into rage.

"You _vrik na tishanti!_ That was _my_ Megadoomer!" she yelled, grabbing the firewhiskey bottle and throwing it at him.

Yelping, Zim ducked, and the bottle shot over him, flying through the air until it smashed into the back of the head of a large, bulky alien sitting at another table. The alien jerked forward as the bottle shattered against his head, blinking in surprise at what had just happened. Scowling, he turned and, seeing a random other patron walking by, assumed he was responsible. As such, he grabbed the other alien without warning and tossed him, sending him flying to crash into another table, earning yells of irritation and anger from the customers sitting there.

Before long, a full bar brawl had broken out, everyone picking a fight with whoever was standing closest to them, for no other reason than it was what everyone else was doing. The only exceptions were Marluck the bartender, who had ducked underneath the bar with only an exasperated sigh, and Zim, who was trying to seek cover under his table… "trying" being the appropriate word, as Tenn had followed him, and was now trying to strangle him.

"Will you stop that?!" Zim yelled, grabbing at Tenn's wrists to keep her hands off his neck and pressing his feet against her chest to try and push her back.

"I'm going to kill you!" she screamed, "If you hadn't taken that Megadoomer, I would have gotten it, and then I'd have conquered Meekrob, and I wouldn't be in this dump!"

"I didn't _take_ it, it was delivered to me!" Zim shot back, "Would you just calm down and let Zim explain?!"

"Like I wanna hear anything out of your mouth, you-HEY!"

Tenn was cut off as a pair of large hands knocked aside the table and grabbed her and Zim by the collars, hefting them into the air. Looking around, the Irkens saw that they were being held by a tall purple lizard-looking alien in blue body armor, one of several now in the bar, breaking up the fights and detaining the belligerent customers.

"Alright, that's enough," a lizard in a particularly snazzy set of armor announced, "In accordance with new planetary management regulations, fights anywhere outside of designated areas are strictly prohibited. You will all now be detained until such time that the managerial magistrate decides what to do with you."

"This is injustice!" Zim shouted, squirming in the officer's grasp, "Zim has done nothing! Release us at once, or taste the fury of my mighty fist!"

"Hey sarge, these two are resisting arrest," the lizard holding the Irkens commented to the one in charge.

"What?! I didn't say anything!" Tenn protested.

"Knock 'em both out and take them to holding," the sergeant ordered. And before either Irken could react, the lizard slammed their heads together. As they lost consciousness, the lizard then carried them out of the bar, following the line of aliens being led out in cuffs by his fellow officers.

XXXXXXX

Zim groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Grabbing his sore head with one hand, he pushed himself up with the other, trying to remember what had happened to him. Blinking his eyes to clear the spots from his vision, he looked around and found that he was lying on a metal bench running along one wall of a small room. There were energy bars blocking the only doorway, and Tenn was lying on another bench on the other side of the room…

"Oh, yeah. Bar fight and arrest by Cyberflox security," he muttered as the memory came back to him. Shaking off the remaining soreness in his head, he frowned at Tenn's unconscious form; after considering it for a moment, he got up from his bench, crossed the small space to reach her, and started shaking her.

"Hey, wake up," he said. When nothing happened, he scowled and started shaking her harder, "Hey, Zim commands you to wake up! Right no-!"

_SMACK!_

Zim was caught off guard as Tenn's fist suddenly shot up and hit him in the chin so hard that he was sent flying back across the room to bounce off his bench and flop onto the floor. Tenn, meanwhile, blinked in confusion as she finished fully regaining consciousness, having lashed out with that punch entirely on instinct. However, as she took in her location, and saw Zim sprawled on the floor, that confusion faded into annoyance and anger.

"Oh, right. You," she grumbled. For a minute, she looked like she was about to attack him again, before sighing in defeat and slumping, resting her head on one hand, "You know I'm probably going to get fired over this, right? Thanks a lot."

"What did Zim do?" Zim snapped as he crawled back onto his bench, "You're the one who started that stupid fight when you attacked me!"

"Okay, yeah, that wasn't such a bright idea," she admitted, before scowling at him, "But considering I just found out that you had the Megadoomer that should have been mine this whole time-"

"Would you let Zim explain that already?" Zim interrupted, scowling back at her with equal intensity. She huffed, but nodded at him to do so.

"Now then, as Zim was trying to say before, I did not _take_ your Megadoomer, it was delivered to me," he stated, "In hindsight, I was probably the one meant to get those defective SIRs, as a sick joke by the Tallest. Instead, somehow I got that stupid mech, which quite frankly was a total joke! It didn't come with a power source, so I had to keep it plugged in all the time, and even that wasn't enough to keep it charged when I tried to use its weapons. And oh yeah, that cloaking device that's supposed to be so awesome? Turns out it only makes the _mech_ invisible, not the _pilot_."

"Wait, so you were still completely visible even though it wasn't?" Tenn asked, arching her antennae in surprise, "That's just idiotic."

"Yes it is. Those stupid Vortians either completely messed up the design or decided to sabotage production in the most ridiculous way possible," Zim said, muttering that last part before turning back to Tenn, "Anyway, in summary, Zim had nothing to do with you not getting that thing, and even if you'd gotten it, it wouldn't have done you any good. So don't blame me for your life getting screwed up by something that wasn't my fault!"

"…Fine, sorry," Tenn mumbled out after a moment, before leaning back with another sigh, "I suppose it doesn't matter, anyway. It still happened regardless of whose fault it was, I still ended up on this steaming cesspool of a planet, and now I'm more than likely out of a job, which means I'll have to scrape and beg for another one, which will probably be worse than the last one. I am truly at rock bottom."

"Yes, yes, your life in quite pathetic at the moment," Zim commented, earning a glare from her, "But are you just going to sit back and take it? Or are you going to do something to improve your situation, like I am?"

Tenn stared at him in surprise, before snorting and looking away.

"I don't know why you think we're getting out of here anytime soon," she said, "The local law enforcement might technically be employed by the consortium that bought out the planet after Fitzoo-Menga disappeared, but they're all in the pocket of the local mobs. And that means that unless you're a member of any of those gangs, you rot in jail until they decide they're sick of looking at you."

"Then it's a good thing Zim isn't leaving it up to them," he replied, as a communicator extended out of his PAK, "GIR, come in! Your master requires your aid!"

" _Hiya, Mister Wizard! Are we going to Munchkin land?_ " GIR responded, a hologram of his head projecting from the device.

"What?" Zim asked, blinking for a moment before deciding to ignore it, "Never mind, I don't care. I've been taken prisoner by the local law drones, and I need you to come break me out!"

" _Ooh, okie-dokie! Imma gonna dig a hole through the wall with a spoon!_ "

"No, GIR, I don't have time for that kind of nonsense. Just lock onto my PAK transponder, come to my location, and blast me free," Zim commanded, "Do you understand me?"

" _Yes, my master!_ " GIR responded, eyes flashing red as he saluted, before the communication switched off.

"There, now we just have to wait for him to come get us," Zim said as the communicator retracted, before arching an antenna as he noticed the disconcerted look on Tenn's face.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"A malfunctioning SIR Unit. That's your plan," she said flatly, "That's what got me into this mess in the first place!"

"Hey! I'll have you know that while GIR may be a piece of junk, he's perfectly reliable at least 75 percent of the time!" Zim stated in defense of his robot.

"Oh, I feel so much better now," Tenn huffed, lying down on her bench and trying to get comfortable.

"Hmph," Zim snorted, not amused by her reaction. However, he chose to ignore her for now, and instead got comfortable himself, leaning back against the wall.

For a few minutes, there was no sound in the cell except for that of Zim absently tapping his fingers against the bench. Eventually, though, he got bored with that, and looked around for something to do. Obviously, there was nothing in the cramped space that could provide entertainment, but before he could get too frustrated, a memory sparked, and he got an idea.

"I spy something reddish-brown," he said, Tenn blinking at the sudden comment.

"What?"

"It's a human game I picked up one of the other times I was in a jail cell," Zim explained with a shrug.

"How many times has that happened?" Tenn asked, narrowing an eye at him.

"Not the point! The point is, you play by vaguely describing something you see, and the person you're playing with has to guess it," Zim said.

"That's stupid," Tenn said, "I have better things to do than play some ridiculous game with you."

"Like what?" Zim asked, genuinely curious.

"…"

"…"

"…Is it that bit of rust on the edge of your bench?" she asked after a moment.

"Nope," Zim replied with a smug smirk.

"That weird stain on the floor?"

"Nuh-uh."

"That dried blood splatter on the ceiling?"

"Honestly didn't notice that until just now, so no."

"Ugh, this is stupid, I give up!" Tenn groaned, leaning back against the wall.

"Aha! Victory for Zim!" Zim crowed, throwing up his arms in celebration, "And for the record, I was talking about the bit of rust on the edge of _your_ bench."

Tenn growled in disbelief and annoyance, but before she could say or do anything, there was a sound of footsteps approaching. Hearing this, both Irkens sat up straight, just as several of the lizard security guards arrived outside the cell, including the sergeant who had arrested them.

"Good news, Irkens, your bail's been paid," the sergeant announced, as the energy bars disappeared from the doorway.

"What? By who?" Tenn asked, staring at them suspiciously.

"Who cares? Zim is outta here!" Zim said, trying to exit the cell, only for one of the guards to grab him by the collar before he could brush past them.

"Not so fast," the sergeant said, "Your bailer had pretty strict instructions regarding what to do with you. Namely, you're to be taken to them immediately upon release."

"Zim has no desire to go anywhere except off this planet," Zim growled, struggling in the guard's grip, "Release me at once!"

"Nope. Grab the other one," the sergeant ordered, pulling a pair of black bags out from behind his back.

"Wait a minute-" Tenn started to say, only to be grabbed by one of the lizards. She and Zim then had the bags shoved over their heads, and their hands were cuffed behind their backs. They were then carried out of the building and tossed into the back of a hovercraft, which started moving. As it did, several guards also in the craft took out batons and started smacking Zim with them.

"AH! Why is there pain?!" Zim yelled, as he twitched under the blows.

"Orders from the people we're taking you to," one of the guards replied casually, as he continued to hit Zim, "They offered a nice bonus to rough you up first."

"Should we also whack the other one a few times?" another guard asked, gesturing to Tenn.

"Nah, they didn't say anything about her, other than to bring her," the first guard said, still hitting Zim.

"Gah! I will turn you inside out!" Zim snarled, only to be ignored by the guards, who continued to hit him.

This continued for several minutes, before the hovercraft came to a stop and the guards finally let up the beating. They then grabbed the Irkens and tossed them out of the hovercraft to land with thuds on the sidewalk.

"Took you long enough," a voice said; still hooded as they were, Zim and Tenn couldn't tell who it belonged to.

"Whatever, we're here aren't we?" one of the guards countered, "You got our money?"

"Sure. Nice doing business with you," the other voice replied. There was the sound of bags, presumably containing money, being handed over to the guards, and then the Irkens were again picked up and carried off. If Zim weren't so woozy from the beating, he would have started issuing demands, but as it was stayed quiet; Tenn, for her part, kept her mouth shut until she thought she was in a position to talk her way out of this.

After several more minutes, they reached wherever it was they were going, and the Irkens were dumped onto what felt like a couple of chairs. Then the hoods were pulled off, and the pair winced at the sudden return of light. Still handcuffed, they were only able to sit there, squirming and looking around to take in their surroundings. They were sitting in the middle of a large circular room, lined with windows. And filling that room were a number of large amoeba-like aliens, including one wearing a white suit jacket who was seated on a dais and looking down at them.

"Well, well, I bet you didn't think we'd ever cross paths again, did you little Irken?" the chief amoeba asked, sneering at Zim, while his guards seemed more interested in several plates of crepes that were lying about.

"…Who are you?" Zim asked, blinking in apparently genuine confusion, which caught the amoeba off guard.

"Wha-? I'm Gabo Amoebo, chief crime boss of Cyberflox!" the mob boss proclaimed in outrage, "We met last time you were on this planet!"

"…" Zim merely stared, not showing any reaction.

"You were disguised as a janitor and looking for Virooz," Gabo went on, growing increasingly frustrated, "You kept causing everyone to shoot each other, we all assumed you were muscling in on our territory, so we tried to ambush you in that alley, and then you got sucked up into Fitzoo-Menga's ship before we could!"

"Zim remembers all that, but I don't recall you being there," Zim replied with a shrug. While Gabo sputtered in disbelief, Tenn rolled her eyes and decided to finally speak up.

"Okay, look, from the sound of it, you have a grudge against Zim for whatever damages his stupidity did to your people last time, and you want to take it out on him," she said, "So why am _I_ here?"

"Well, we can't leave a loose end hanging around who might come looking for him when we're done with him," Gabo explained, "So I'm afraid you're going to have to share your little friend's fate."

"He's not my friend! I don't even like him!" Tenn protested.

"Regardless, you're a witness now, so we're going to have to get rid of you," Gabo said, before gesturing to his men, "Boys, I'm not in the mood for gloating anymore. Just go take these two and fit 'em with some concrete shoes."

"We sell shoes now?" one of the amoebas asked obliviously, earning himself a smack upside the head.

"No, you idiot! That's code for putting their feet in concrete and tossing them in the nearest pool to drown!" Gabo growled in annoyance, "You know what? Forget it — just take them out back and shoot them until they're vaporized!"

"Do not touch Zim, or I'll make you all suffer!" Zim yelled in panic as the amoebas started walking towards them. Tenn, however, took a more pragmatic approach — as an amoeba came up behind her chair, she kicked off from it, sending it flying back into the amoeba and knocking him over. At the same time, her PAK legs deployed, one of them slicing down and through her cuffs, freeing her hands by the time she hit the ground in a crouch.

Everyone stared at this display, including Zim. Noting that part, Tenn rolled her eyes.

"Zim, you know you can do that too, right?" she sighed.

"Er, right, of course Zim knew that! I just wanted to see if _you_ knew that!" Zim said quickly. Then, before anyone could react, he extended his own PAK legs, and started randomly firing plasma blasts from three of them while the fourth one cut his hands free. The amoebas all ducked for cover, as did Tenn when several of Zim's shots almost hit her.

"Learn to aim, you moron!" she snapped.

"Don't tell Zim how to shoot things! I'm an expert at it!" he snapped back, though he did cease fire to check the damage… which, aside from some holes in the floor and ceiling, wasn't much. The amoebas, meanwhile, were all completely unharmed, and were now glaring at the Irkens.

"Yeah, you're a real expert, I can tell," Tenn said dryly.

"Silence!"

"Alright, that's enough from both of you!" Gabo yelled, drawing a blaster as his men did likewise, "Forget taking you out back, I'm just gonna blast you here and clean up the mess later! Open fir-!"

_SMASH!_

To everyone's surprise, one of the windows was smashed open as something slammed into it, then hit the floor and rolled across it to come to a stop at Zim's feet.

"Hi!" GIR greeted happily, looking up at his master.

"GIR! What took you so long?" Zim demanded.

"I stopped to play with the turkey people!" GIR responded as he jumped to his feet.

"What?" Zim asked, he and everyone else blinking at the comment, before shaking it off, "Never mind, we're leaving."

"Did you miss the part where you're my prisoners and about to be rubbed out?" Gabo asked, growling in annoyance.

"No, Zim remembers that, but you're going to let us go," Zim replied smugly.

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"Because," Zim said, suddenly grabbing GIR, flipping his head open, and pulling something out, "I'm holding a thermal detonator!"

The amoebas all gasped and stepped back in fear, except for Gabo himself, who merely raised an eyebrow as he actually looked at what Zim was holding.

"…That's a can of tomato soup," he commented. Zim blinked at that, and looking to his hand saw that he was indeed holding a can instead of a bomb.

"Eh? GIR! What did you do with all those emergency explosives I packed you with?" Zim demanded.

"I traded 'em to the turkey people for the soup!" GIR replied.

" _What_ turkey people do you keep mentioning?" Zim asked, frowning in frustration.

As if on cue, there was an explosion across the street. Everyone turned to look out the window, and saw that a building had been blown apart. Numerous aliens were running out of the wreckage on fire, most of which looked like humanoid turkeys.

"Hey, I think that little robot just blew up Phil's Soup 'N Lasers," one of the amoebas commented casually.

"Huh, someone make a note to buy out that property," Gabo said, turning back to the Irkens, "Now then, where were-"

Once again, Gabo was interrupted. This time, it was because Tenn grabbed the soup can out of Zim's hand and threw it through the air at him. It smacked into Gabo's face hard enough that it would have broken bones if he had any; as it was, his gelatinous form gave way, leaving the can sticking out of his now featureless face. As the other amoebas stared in shock, Tenn then turned and tackled Zim, the pair of them going right out another window and crashing into a dumpster on the street below.

"Gah, what did you do that for?" Zim groaned, as they pulled themselves out of the garbage.

"I just saved us from the mess you got us into. You're welcome," Tenn replied tersely.

"Let's do it again!" GIR cheered, as he attempted to swim through the garbage. Tenn shuddered at his actions, but shook off her discomfort to focus on the more pressing issue at the moment.

"Come on, we need to get out of her," she said, scrambling out of the dumpster and onto the pavement.

"Bah, those stupid amoebas are no threat," Zim scoffed as he hopped out of the dumpster, dragging GIR with him, "Now that we've escaped their lair, they'll just give up."

_ZAP_

_ZAP_

_ZAP_

"Ah!" Zim yelped, just barely dodging as several lasers hit the dumpster, fired by the amoebas firing out of the broken window.

"After them! Don't let them get away!" Gabo ordered.

"Run!" Tenn shouted, grabbing Zim's arm and bolting down the street, as several amoebas emerged out of a nearby door.

"Zim can run on his own!" Zim snapped, yanking his hand free, but otherwise following her. GIR, meanwhile, was keeping pace besides them, but from the look on his face only because he thought what was happening was fun.

The Irkens sped down the street, shoving aside anyone who in their way, while the amoebas chased after them, firing off their blasters in a constant barrage.

"Quick, in here!" Tenn said, darting through a door. Annoyed at her still giving him orders, but having no time to protest it, Zim dashed through the door after her, kicking it shut behind him. Looking around, he saw that they were now in a club of some kind, disco balls lighting the room, while aliens sat at tables surrounding the central dance floor, where a crowd of many more patrons were dancing to loud music.

"Oooh, party!" GIR said happily, running in to join the crowd.

"GIR, get back here!" Zim snapped, only for Tenn to push him towards the dance floor as well.

"Follow him, we can lose them in the crowd!" she shouted to be heard over the music.

"Stop telling Zim what to do!" Zim snarled. He was just about to stay where he was, just to spite her, when he heard the amoebas start banging on the door, trying to kick it down. Growling, he followed after GIR, slipping between the legs of the taller aliens to try and hide beneath their bulks.

A few seconds later, the door was knocked off its hinges, and the amoebas swarmed into the club. Gabo emerged from amongst his underlings, and after taking a look at the crowd, fired a shot into the air, causing the music to instantly stop and gaining everyone's attention.

"Alright, listen up!" he announced, "I'm looking for a couple of people who just ran in here. My men have surrounded this building, so nobody try to make a run for it or try to help the people I'm here for, and everyone I'm not interested in gets to live."

"Now what?" Zim hissed to Tenn, from where the pair were huddled behind a particularly large yeti-like alien, while an oblivious GIR continued to dance next to them.

"Oh, _now_ you want me to tell you what to do?" Tenn hissed back.

"Fine, Zim will just come up with something himself if you can't," Zim said, Tenn rolling her eyes in response. Zim didn't notice, however, as his mind was racing, trying to figure out a way out of this situation. There had to be one — he was not going to go out like this, killed by some nobody amoeba with a grudge for something that wasn't even his fault. Seriously, how was Zim to blame because everyone on this planet was so trigger happy about…

Oh, wait. That could work.

"So here's what's happening," Gabo said, "We're looking for-"

"VIROOZ!" Zim suddenly yelled, Tenn wincing at the unexpected volume. And before she could even try to be angry at him for blowing their location, the crowd reacted to the shout.

"Virooz?!"

"Did someone say Virooz?!"

"Why's he looking for Virooz?!"

"I thought Virooz was gone?!"

Everyone started screaming about Virooz, and whipping out weapons to aim at each other. The bartenders pulled out blaster rifles from beneath the bar, everyone on the dance floor but the Irkens pulled out blasters, the patrons flipped their tables to better stand up and aim at each other, and the disco balls and other lights in the ceiling retracted and were replaced with blaster turrets.

"Whoa, whoa, everyone calm down!" Gabo said, wide-eyed at how many weapons were now pointed at him and his men (even if most were aimed at each other), "I didn't say anything about Virooz-"

"He said it again!" someone shouted, opening fire on the amoebas. As if this were the cue, everyone else started shooting as well. In the midst of all this chaos, Zim and Tenn dove behind the bar, having plenty of room to hide as the bartenders were vaporized in the crossfire, and hunkered down.

Several minutes later, the shooting stopped. Deciding to take the risk of checking to see what had happened, the Irkens peeked out from behind the bar, and saw that everyone had either been disintegrated or was lying on the floor in a charred heap. Except, that is, for GIR (who was still dancing) and the amoebas, who were scorched and literally blasted full of holes, but despite that didn't looked actually hurt.

"Wow, if I had organs, this would probably be extremely painful," Gabo commented, poking at one of the large holes in his chest before shrugging and turning to face the Irkens again, "Now then, where were we?"

"Great. You managed to eliminate everyone _except_ the people chasing us," Tenn said dryly, "Any other bright ideas?"

"Er…" was all Zim said, as he froze up in panic.

"Okay, that's enough of this nonsense," Gabo said, as he and his men took aim, "This ends right no-"

_BOOM_

"Now what?!" Gabo screamed, as one of the walls suddenly exploded. As the resulting dust cloud cleared, everyone turned to face it, and were surprised to see a large number of knocked out amoebas piled on the street outside. And even more so as their assailant emerged out of the cloud.

"Nyah!" Minimoose squeaked, floating into the room.

"Minimoose? Where have you been?" Zim asked, as everyone else stared at the purple moose.

"Nyah!"

"I _know_ I told you to keep an eye on GIR and the Voot, but when I told him to come save me it was implied I meant you too!"

"Nyah!"

"Well you should have come _before_ you heard the explosions and shooting!"

"Nyah!"

"Zim does _not_ need to learn to be more specific, you little-!" Zim snarled, before shaking his head angrily, "Urgh, never mind! Just deal with these stupid gangster amoeba people!"

"Oh please," Gabo said, as he and his men snapped out of their surprised daze, "I don't know what happened to all those idiots outside, but there's no way that stupid little thing is supposed to be a threat to us."

"Nyah!"

"Ooh, now you made Moose mad," GIR commented, having stopped dancing to watch, while Zim smirked at the insulted anger he could hear in his minion's squeaking. Minimoose floated over to hover in front of the amoebas, and before they could react, he started glowing with energy, which spread to the piles of rubble from the destroyed wall. That debris lifted into the air and compressed, quickly forming into large boulders which hung in the air directly above the amoebas.

Before the gangsters had a chance to do more than widen their eyes in alarm, Minimoose slammed the boulders down on them. He then pulled them back up and brought them down again, repeating this process several more times, until all the amoebas had been reduced to groaning puddles of goo. Except for Gabo, who stared slack-jawed at the mess that used to be his men.

"Well, er," he stuttered, holding up his hands defensively, "Maybe this whole thing's just been a big mistake. What do you say we just talk this out over a meal? You guys like crepes? I'll-AH!"

Gabo's pleading was cut off with a cry as Tenn suddenly dashed forward and sliced through one of his wrists with one of her PAK legs, sending that hand and the blaster it was holding clattering to the floor. And before he could even process what had happened to him, Zim ran towards him as well and swooped down with his PAK legs, cutting Gabo in half at the waist, sending his upper half also tumbling down to the floor. But before it could hit, Tenn spun around, and her PAK legs cut Gabo's head off.

Gabo blinked dumbly as his head bounced on the floor, looking around at his dismembered body and up at the Irkens, who were glaring down at him.

"Um, no hard feelings?" he said with a forced grin. In response, Zim kicked him, sending the disembodied head flying through the hole in the wall to disappear somewhere across the street.

"Goal!" GIR cheered, throwing his hands up over his head.

"Well, that was… something," Tenn commented, looking around at the remains of the battle.

"Yes, another glorious victory won by the incredible strategic genius of Zim!" Zim proclaimed, fists planted on his hips. Tenn rolled her eyes, but chose not to comment on that.

"Right. Well, we should get out of here before anyone shows up to investigate this," she said, "I don't want to get arrested twice in the same day."

"Hmph, good point," Zim reluctantly acknowledged. Pulling a remote out of his PAK, he tapped a command into it; a few minutes later, the Voot zoomed down from above the surrounding buildings and landed on the street. Zim started walking towards it, GIR and Minimoose following after him, only to pause midway and look back at Tenn, who was standing on the sidewalk awkwardly, clearly not sure where to go.

"So, uh, what are you going to do now?" he asked, surprised to find himself genuinely curious.

"Well, unless I'm extremely lucky, I've probably lost that job at Marluck's, so I'll have to try and find another one," she said with a shrug, "Plus, that amoeba we just cut to pieces will probably have friends looking for me, so that's going to be fun…"

"Master, can we take her home with us?" GIR suddenly asked.

"What?" Zim and Tenn asked at the same time, blinking in surprise and confusion.

"Yeah, 'cuz then you can team up and take over Earth, and fight all the bad guys, and eat all the cakes and pizzas!" GIR continued.

"Stop spewing nonsense, GIR," Zim scolded, "Zim needs no help from other Invaders to conquer Earth!"

"Nyah!"

"No, Skoodge just crashes in our basement from time to time. He is not now nor will he ever be my partner."

"Nyah!"

"Well, yes, I suppose we did make a good team in that fight just now, even if Zim did do most of the work, but-"

"Nyah!"

"Curse you! Why did I make you such an eloquent and charismatic speaker!" Zim growled, rubbing the sides of his heads, while Minimoose gave a rather smug-sounding squeak. Glaring at the floating robot for a moment, Zim turned back to Tenn, who had watched this whole exchange with an arched antenna.

"Zim supposes he could use some… _minor_ assistance on Earth," he said, practically forcing himself to say it, "Are you interested in coming?"

"…Considering the alternative is staying on this dump, sure, let's do it," Tenn replied after a moment's thought. Tearing off the waitress outfit she was still wearing, leaving herself in just her Elite uniform, she added, "Besides, while it still sounds a little insane, I think I can see your earlier point about sticking it to the Tallest by conquering a planet even after they kicked me out. Bizarre as it seems, the thought of that is kind of exhilarating now that I've had time to dwell on it. And if nothing else, I remember what else you said before, and I am not someone who just gives up; if I couldn't get the conquest I wanted, I'll just take another one."

"Just remember that Zim gets top credit for it when it happens," Zim pointed out with a frown.

"Whatever. Let's just get this junk pile you call a ship out of here before anyone shows up to grab us," Tenn said, walking past Zim and climbing into the Voot.

"Zim is regretting this case of his endless generosity already," Zim muttered, as he and the robots got into the Voot as well.

It was a bit of a tight squeeze, especially since the Voot wasn't really built for multiple full-size passengers, but everyone managed to find room. And with that settled, ship took off, leaving Cyberflox behind and heading for Earth.

A whole new series of adventures was about to begin…

**Author's Note:**

> And as usual, my endings suck. But, I hope that that doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the rest of the story.
> 
> A note about continuity, in case anyone was confused by that mention of the Florpus. I know that the comics and movie clearly are meant to be different continuities, but since I love both and want to reference both, let's assume that the movie took place instead of Issues 1 and 2, and then the rest of the comics followed.
> 
> Nothing else to say, except a reminder that this series won't update as frequently as New Adventures. Still, keep an eye out for it.
> 
> Please review!


End file.
